Apparatus for treating serum



May 26, 1925. 1,539,102

E. R. ALEXANDER APPARATUS FOR TREATING SERUM Filed Fe '7, 1925 II! II iiz I? I Z 4 INVENTOR :4 TTORNEY' Patented May 26, 1925,

UNITED, STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

ELLIOT E. ALEXANDER, OF KANSAS CITY, llIIISSOU LRI.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING SERUM.

Application filed February 17, 1923. Serial N 0. 619,599.

marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to an apparatus for preparing serum andparticularly for the treatment of anti-hog cholera serum 111 which theserum is rendered most potent for the purpose intended in an eflicientand expeditious manner.

It has generally been the practiceto produce serum by procuring healthy,immune hogs and hyperimmunizing them by in ecting virulent blood intotheir car vein. At the end of about ten days these hogs are bled andafter the first bleeding, the bleeding is repeated at intervals of aboutseven days. .This crude blood is then refined by placing it incontainers carried by powerful centrifugal machines revolving at a ratesufficient to throw down all the blood corpuscles, bacteria. and solidinert material,

leaving only the clear, pure, refined serum. The serum should then besterilized at a, temperature sufficient to kill all germspr bacteria, aswell as to coagulate or solidify the soluble fibrin. It is thensubjected to a second centrifuging operation so as to precipitate thefibrin, leaving a clear amber colored liquid. It is then bottled andtested further for sterility and potency. The Bureau of Animal Industryof the United States now recognizes that a clear serum is very much moreconcentrated and stronger in potenc than blood serum and as a. result ofinvestlgation, the Department of Agriculture has made it mandatory thatblood serum, that is, serum which has not been defibrinated, must beused in considerably larger doses than clear serum. The potency of clearserum, however, can be rendered quite inefficient by improper treatmentand since the known method of defibrinatmg serum involves the use ofhigh power cen-v trifugal machines, the preparation of the serum hashitherto been unnecessarily expensive because the treatment involvedplacing the blood in the containers of the centrifugal machines and thensterilizing it in the containers with the result that the machine stoodidle during theperiod of sterilization. In view of the fact thatthe-centrifugal machines must operate at relatively high speeds,generally at a peripheral speed of about two miles per minute, thecontainers must be constructed of relatively heavy materialnecessitating thick walls and of excessive weight not easily adapted forhandling. Attempts have been made to defibrinate the blood byintroducing it into receptacles and placing the receptacles in thecontainers of the centrifugal machine but the centrifugal force has beenfound to be so great that the receptacles break down and soon becomedestroyed-.-

According -to my apparatus, the serum is placed in a receptacle, thewalls of whichmay be relatively thin, and the receptacle is thenintroduced into a container, usually the container furnished by themanufac turers of the centrifugal machines, care being taken that thewalls of the receptacle snugly lie against the inner surfaces of thecontainers so that any tendency of the walls of the receptacles to bulgeor disrupt, due to the centrifugal force of the machine, will be.efficiently resisted by the-bulky, heavy container and after thecentrifuging opera.- tion has been completed, that is, after the machinehas operated long enough to effect the precipitation of the solidsiri'the blood, the receptacle is removed and placed in a sterilizer orheater asuflicient length of time to kill ,all germs, bacteria, etc, aswell as action of the centrifuging machine to cause the precipitation ofthe fibrin whereupon the clear serum may be bottled, ready for use.

According to my invention, the blood serum may be introduced into thereceptacle and the receptacle sealed, it being unnecessary to open it orpour out the contents until after the sterilization takes place. thisbeing an important step in advance of known methods since the serum neednot be subjected to contamination between the time that the hog is bledand the time the finished product is bottled.

The receptacle and container constitute substantially a double walledreceptacle, the

inner wall of which is relatively thin to per-.

dling of the serum will be: eliminated and it will also be apparent thatthe method may be concluded in less time than ordinarily employed for asimilar result and that the machine may be in practically continuousoperation since a number of receptacles may be provided for eachcontainer so that when defibrinating of the serum in one set ofreceptacles has been finished, the receptacles may be removed andanother set introduced, permitting the machine to produce thedefibrination in oneset of recep-. tacles while the serum in the otherset is be ing sterilized and since the receptacles may be provided withcovers, the blood contained therein waiting to be conveyed to thecentrifuging machine will be sealed from contamination from an exteriorsource.

As illustrative of a. mechanism for carrying out the method, I haveshown a known form of centrifuging machine sufiiciently modified toperform the functions intended.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a. side elevational view of a centrifugin machine constructedin accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a detail view of one of the containers, showing the receptacleor inner lining partially withdrawn, and

Fig. 3 is a vertical, longitudinal, sectional view through the doublewalled container.

The centrifuging machine is illustrated as consisting of a shaft 1driven by a belt 2 from a suitable source of power by assing around thepulley 3. The shaft 1 1s in bearings 4 and 5 and at its upper end it 1sprovided with radial arms 6 havmg hooked extremities 7 to receive thetrunnions 8 of the outer wall or container 9. The container 9 isprovided with relatively thick walls to withstand the centrifugal forceand serving as a reinforcing member for the inner wall or receptacle 10,which contains the blood serum to be treated, the receptacle 10 beingprovided with a lid or cover 11.

It will be apparent that when the parts are assembled as shown in Fig. 1andcthe centrifuging machine is operating, the members 9 will assumesubstantially horizontal positions due to the centrifugal forcegenerated and that defibrinating will take place. After a suitable timethe inner wall or receptacle 10 may be removed and conveyed to asterilizer. substitute receptacles being introduced into the members 9so that a substantially continuous operation may be maintained.

\Vhat I claim and desire to'secure by Letters Patent is 1. A doublewalled centrifugal separator container, the outer wall of which consistsof an outer receptacle having substantially thick walls, and the innerwall of which consists of a receptacle having substantially thin wallsadapted to bulge under excessive pressure, the inner receptacleconforming substantially throughout to the inner surface of the outerreceptacle. with its outer surface in such proximity to the innersurface of the outer receptacle as to prevent permanent distortion ofthe inner receptacle, there being sufficient space bet-ween the innerand outer walls to prevent adhesion under high centrifugal pressure.

2. A double walled centrifugal separator container, the outer wall ofwhich consists of a substantial cylindrical outer member havingrelatively thick walls and provided with opposite trunnions forpivotally mounting the container in a centrifugal machine and the innerwall of the said container consisting of a receptacle havingsubstantially thin walls adapted to bulge under excessive pressure, theinner receptacle conforming substantially throughout to the cylindricalouter member with its outer surface in such proximity to the innersurface of the hollow member as to prevent. permanent distortion of theinner receptacle, there being "suflicient space between the inner andouter walls to prevent adhesion under high centrifugal pressure.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

ELLIOT R. ALEXANDER.

